Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - La figlia unica

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

La figlia unica by Guadalupe Nettel

15 reviews

kerriboland's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I am so grateful that I have had neither challenges with infertility, nor child death or severe disability before I read this.

What a gut punch of a novel. What a beautiful, important, horrible gut punch. Realistic, honest, just, beautiful, horribly sad and incredibly powerful. Beautifully written, amazingly translated.

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dizzzybrook's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Still Born had been on my shelf for quite a long time prior to picking it up last night and staying up much too late to finish it in one sitting. I really loved how this book was paced, switching back and forth between Laura and Adina's stories, both not only demonstrating two very complex sides of motherhood but also the ways in which motherhood inherently affects everyone around us. For a book of this size, I was impressed by how well Nettel was able to give these characters depth without spending tons and tons of pages convincing the reader to care. The chapters are short and relatively straight to the point but no nuance or empathy is lost. The only thing preventing this from being a full 5 stars for me is that the last quarter of the book felt a tad bit choppy and rushed. To an extent, there are a couple of points throughout where the commentary on motherhood felt slightly preachy, but I wouldn't say that it ever made me want to stop reading. Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2024 for sure.

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a raw portrait of womanhood in the decision to have or not have children. a very important and powerful little book.

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tiffany_lishan's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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barbelizabeth's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A beautifully written piece. The prose is elegant and intense, the surroundings and culture are painted wonderfully. I found myself on this emotional rollercoaster and unable (unwilling!) to get off. I found pieces of myself in both Alina and Laura, though the two of them are very different characters.

My only note would be that I felt the metaphor of the nest was a little on the nose for my taste. It just wasn't subtle enough, but otherwise masterfully done.

I will come back to reread this.

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Lyrical prose and Immediately pulled in! I was loving the characters and getting to know them. I related to Alina and her feelings surrounding infertility during her journey to motherhood.

I picked this up from the library and 15 pages in I wanted to go out and buy a copy because there were so many lines I wanted to mark!

Beautiful, moving story of motherhood in its various forms and what it means to care for others. Definitely a novel I’ll be thinking about for a long time and a fave for the month!

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